The Lilly Legacy
by Lanie L Sullivan
Summary: Set just after "Look Who's Stalking," and carrying on through the end of season 2. Lilly lets those around her know that while she may be dead, she's not gone, as she makes her feelings known about her murder trial and the burgeoning relationship between Logan and Veronica.
1. Logan's End

Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is the property of Rob Thomas Productions and Warner Brothers Television. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended.

AN: This story begins where the episode, "Look Who's Stalking" ends. A little insight into the events that happened during that episode and on Lilly's murder trial.

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Logan helplessly watched Veronica sprint into the elevator as fast as her short little legs would carry her and struggled to catch up with her only to have the doors close in his face. He futilely slammed his fist into their shiny surface and whimpered, "Veronica," as he sank down against them wallowing in his misery. With his head still throbbing from last night's binge at the alterna-prom he'd hosted in his lavish suite, he'd been no match for the petite blonde in her righteous anger with him and he deserved it, he was sure. He'd been honest though. Last night _was_ a blur. What had he said to her? What had he done last night that had her showing up this morning looking at him with those doe eyes, adoring him as if...just once, she were forgetting how broken he was, how flawed...and were willing to give him another chance. Then Kendall had emerged from the bowels of the destroyed suite and the look was gone in a flash replaced, with one of anger and worse...hurt.

"Kendall," he muttered as he shook his head, forced himself to his feet and resolutely marched back down the hall and into the living area of the suite to find her tossing plastic cups into a trash bag. "My, my, don't you just look like the picture of domesticity?" he snarled.

"Well, _somebody_ has to do it," she parried wrinkling her nose as she continued in her task. "This place is disgusting. Your little school friends did quite a number on it."

"That's why this place has a housekeeping staff," Logan countered. "So, why don't you just scurry on along and start looking for your next meal ticket, Sweetheart, 'cause it's not gonna' be me."

"Oh, is that right?" The icy brunette replied as she dropped the bag. "Do I need to remind you of who was looking after you last night after all of your friends just ran off and left you here lying in a puddle of your own vomit? Revolting, by the way."

"And I'm sure you were here to help just out of the goodness of your heart," Logan replied dryly. Before Kendall could reply, He held up a hand to stop her. "Save it! You and I both know what you're after. My mother's dead, my father's about to go to prison for the rest of his natural life, my sister's a head case and that leaves me with the keys to the kingdom. You were left high and dry when Dick Senior bailed on you and the trust funds for Dick Junior and Beaver are managed by their mother. I may not be acing math class, but it doesn't take a genius to work out those numbers."

Kendall smiled seductively, approached him slowly, her hips swaying as she did so and purred, "Logan, Sweetie..."

Logan grasped her arm and growled. "Get out!" He then forcibly steered her toward the door and yanked it open. "You're not getting a free ride from me."

"Logan, Baby," she cooed as she ran her free hand up his chest. "Maybe I'm the one who wants to give _you_ the free ride."

"OUT!" he shouted as he used his grip on her wrist to shove her through the door and slammed it behind her. Once she was gone, he quickly punched in the numbers for the security desk and waited impatiently until his call was answered. "Yeah, Logan Echolls...Good, you know who I am. Make sure that Kendall Casablancas never darkens my doorstep again, would ya'?"

Once done with his call, he slammed the phone down before he sank wearily onto the sofa, buried his face in his hands and moaned, "Veronica..." as he desperately tried to recall whatever it was that he'd said to her in his drunken stupor the night before that had brought her here this morning.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," a taunting female voice chided him. "Boy, did you ever screw the pooch on that one."

He looked up to the other side of the sectional to see a vision of his once-beloved Lilly flopping onto her back and crossing her legs over the arm as she peered back at him. He closed his eyes, shook his head and when he opened them again to find she was still there, muttered, "This can't be happening. You can't really be here. This can't be real!"

"Duh! Of course I can't really be here! I'm dead, Lover. But that doesn't mean that this isn't real."

"I can see being dead hasn't changed your ability to screw with a guy's head," Logan responded sardonically.

Lilly swung her legs over the side of the couch to look him in the eye and stated bluntly, "You're the one screwing with your own head, Logan."

He cringed at he really looked at her. "If you're going to haunt me, do you have to do it looking like...like that?" He gestured wildly at her appearance.

She rose and sashayed toward him. "You mean this?" she teased him seductively as she tugged on the short shorts she wore. "You used to like seeing me in my Pep Squad uniform because it showed off my legs." She planted one foot between his legs and patted her own leg. "Remember?" When he shrank back from her, she then backed up a step and tugged at her blood-matted blond hair. "Or is it...this you have a problem with...the gaping hole in my head where your daddy bashed it in with an ashtray." She laughed dryly and continued, "Blunt force trauma, the cops said, but it took them forever to figure out the murder weapon or even who murdered me, thanks to my dear old mom and dad suspecting my poor, dim-witted brother and fudging the evidence. I have to hand it to Veronica for putting all the pieces together."

"Yeah...yeah...uh...Veronica's good like that," Logan stammered awkwardly.

"How exactly did she put the pieces together again? Let's see." She mocked putting a finger to her lips as if lost in thought. "Oh, yeah, that's right. She saw you pulling stuff out of your hiding place in the vents. And how did she do that again? Oh, that's right...she was in your _bedroom!"_ Lilly's voice rose to a shriek on the last word. "Of all people for you to fall for, you had to go for my best friend? I ask you, where's the loyalty? You screwing your brains out with Kendall, I get. She's nothing but a gold-digging, vapid whore, always up for a good time and all, but Veronica? No, Veronica is off-limits."

Finally gathering his nerve, Logan rose to his feet and shouted back at her, "Loyalty? You wanna' bitch at me about loyalty? Where the hell was your loyalty when you were screwing...oh, I don't know...everyone! Weevil, for instance? Or here's a better one. Where the hell was your loyalty when you were screwing my father?"

"Ooh, good comeback. Too bad you don't have proof to back it up."

"I saw the tapes with my own two eyes, Lilly."

"Then you destroyed them, the evidence that was going to be to put my murderer away. Don't you care about justice for me?"

"I couldn't..." Didn't she get it? How much he'd loved her in spite of her numerous betrayals? That he was trying to keep others from seeing that side of her to spare her reputation? "I couldn't let all those people see you like that...see how much of a-" He broke off deciding he couldn't finish that sentence as he reflected on the long-ago comment he'd once made to Veronica, _"I loved Lilly...and Lilly loved guys."_

As if sensing his thoughts, she screeched, "Oh, I get it! Just because I didn't like to be tied down, you don't care if my killer gets away with killing me! I your ego _that_ big?" She paused as she leaned in close and stared directly into his eyes. "Or maybe you just completely forget about me now that you've got our precious Veronica."

"You're dead, Lilly! Was I supposed to die with you like some cheesy country song?" He let out a sigh and in a more resigned tone, concluded, "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life apologizing or feeling guilty for moving on with my life."

"Bravo," she softly replied as she brushed a soft kiss to his lips and then vanished.

He sank back down on the couch and muttered, "What the hell?"


	2. Carefree Mind of Her Own

Veronica ran as fast as she could to the elevator and then to her car before Logan could see the tears that were threatening to fall. She'd be damned if she give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, seeing how much he'd hurt her. How could she have been so stupid as to have believed all his waffle of the night before about how "epic" their relationship was. As she slammed her car door behind her, it occurred to her that it had to have been the liquor talking. He'd never been one who was good at baring himself emotionally so why the hell had she thought anything different last night? How could she have let herself believe that he'd been sincere?

"Oh, Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie," a voice at her side interjected. "Just because he was drunk and doesn't remember it today, that doesn't mean he didn't mean it."

Veronica glanced sideways at her best friend and let out a sigh. She was getting used to Lilly just appearing anywhere and everywhere now. Lilly's senseless murder may have taken place nearly two years ago, but she'd been seeing her long after her death, almost as if she were haunting her. "Then why was Kendall in his room?"

"Not the point, Braintrust," Lilly rolled her eyes. "The point is that he tossed her out on her keister." She nodded to the entrance of the Neptune Grand. "Look..."

Sure enough when Veronica looked up, she saw the trampy brunette stalking toward the valet station. She shook her head. Of course, she'd use the valet, not just park in the parking lot like a normal person. That was the difference between her and the 09er crowd and even though Kendall was nothing more than a gold-digger, she definitely fit in that crowd. That was the problem, Logan was firmly an 09er and always would be. It didn't matter that his father was on trial for Lilly's murder, Logan would always be the son of action hero, Aaron Echolls, and therefore always part of the elite crowd.

"You just stop those thoughts right now, Veronica," Lilly scolded her. "You were always one of us even if you didn't live in our zip code."

"Who are you trying to kid, Lilly? The only reason the 09ers accepted me was because of you and Duncan and now Duncan's-"

"Oh, yeah, he's a real prize," Lilly interrupted sarcastically. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my brother and I always will, but he blew things with you, knocked up his next girlfriend and now where is he? Who the hell knows since he did his little Houdini act with the baby and got you to help him with it."

Veronica let out a sigh and gripped the steering wheel tight. "Lilly, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to give you a little advice...you've been handling this thing with guys all wrong. You let Duncan walk all over you after he got another girl in trouble and you even risked prison time helping him kidnap that baby."

"You don't understand. Meg's parents-"

"Were abusive assholes. I get it, but still, you didn't have to help him after he lied to you about Meg. Face it, your track record with men isn't exactly stellar."

"It hasn't been that bad."

"Puh-lease," Lilly scoffed. "What about poor Leo? You used that boy shamelessly, not that I think there's anything wrong with that, but you went from him to Logan. Really? MY boyfriend?"

"Maybe you should have remembered that he was your boyfriend when you were sleeping with his dad," her friend pointed out. _Maybe you'd still be alive if you had,_ she thought morosely.

"Ronnie, come on, you know me. You know I'm not the wallow-in-self-pity type when I have a beef with a guy. I'm the give-them-a-taste-of-what-they're-missing type." She gave Veronica a stern look. "You should jump on that bandwagon like you did with Leo. You had that man willing to do anything for you, even risk his job, but you blew that one all because of Logan making googly eyes at you when you could do so much better."

"He was good enough for you," she retorted.

"No, he wasn't. If he was, do you think I'd have kept looking for something else? My advice to you is to do the same, play the field a bit, play hard to get. If you really want Logan and I'm not saying I approve because he was mine first, but if you really want him, nothing makes him crazier than playing hard to get."

"Yeah, well, I seem to recall that that's what got you killed, so I'll pass." She felt bad as soon as she said it because she still missed her best friend desperately.

"Touché. I'm impressed, but you just make sure that my killer's put away when you testify, tell them everything you saw on those tapes so he can't get away with it. As for Logan, well, do what you want, but don't be surprised if he doesn't come running if you don't give him a reason to. Sweet boy, but not strong in the taking-action department."

"Lilly..." Veronica's voice faded out and the second syllable, not sure she should ask what she really wanted to know.

"Go ahead and ask, Veronica. I know you're dying to."

"Did you love Logan?"

"Yes, I did. But here's a newsflash for you, I loved you too. You're my best friend, the closest thing to a sister I ever had. Why do you think it kills me...sorry, bad choice of words." She let out a sardonic laugh. "But why do you think it makes me so sad to see you two together? Not only together, but hurting each other?"

"But you hurt Logan all the time." She thought back to how sad Logan had been when he'd learned about Lilly messing around with Weevil, his mournful, _I loved Lilly...and Lilly loved guys._ "You just told me that I oughtta' do the same." She felt the slightest twinge of guilt for being with Logan when he'd been Lilly's boyfriend first. _But why should you? You're alive. Lilly's dead._

"Oh, I never suggested being like me. I know you, V. You could never sleep around, but if he just _thought_ you were, that might wake him up."

"That's not how I operate," Veronica denied adamantly. "I don't hurt people just because they hurt me." _Liar,_ she argued with herself. Weren't you the one telling Meg just a year ago about getting even? And Carmen when she was with that douchebag, Tad?

"Oh, please, you _totally_ operate that way. You just use your little job in your daddy's detective agency to do the damage. Do we need to talk about what you did to Troy when you found out what he was up to?"

"Troy was a drug dealer," Veronica argued. So much had happened since then, she'd almost forgotten about Troy.

"But tell me that revenge wasn't sweet."

Veronica shrugged. She had to admit that it had been nice seeing Troy get what was coming to him. "Okay...maybe, but still...Logan is..." She took a deep breath. "It's complicated."

"So un-complicate it. If nothing else, at least get something you want out of it. The boy was practically pouring his heart out to you last night."

"And this morning, he didn't remember a word of it."

"Give him time. He may need you before you know it." Lilly leaned across the console, gave her friend a kiss on the cheek and disappeared.

"What the hell?" Veronica questioned as she was once again alone in her car. She let out a tiny shiver as she wondered what Lilly's last words to her had meant. Being a ghost, did she have inside information on what was to come? She shook her head and decided not to think about it. She needed to get home and do some serious prepping for the upcoming trial.


	3. Slammed Duncan

Duncan walked through the lavish beach house to the nursery, taking great care not to jostle the sleeping baby in his arms. He laid her gently in her crib and looked down at her and smiled. For all the drama and heartbreak that had occurred in his life, Lilly's death, his bouts with seizures, his father being accused of Lilly's murder by Keith Mars, the bus crash that had put Meg in a coma and ultimately led to her death, leaving Veronica behind...The list seemed endless, but this tiny little girl was the one bright spot in his life that made all the struggles worth it.

"Sleep tight, my sweet Lilly," he crooned to his daughter.

"Awww...you named her after me," a voice behind him simpered. "Isn't that sweet."

He whipped around abruptly. "Lilly," he breathed. "No, you can't be here. You can't. I'm on the right medications now. I...this...this can't be happening." He'd only ever seen visions of Lilly when he was under the influence of the epilepsy controlling drugs...or suffering withdrawal from them, but now...he had a good neurologist, one who'd steered him toward the right treatment that didn't make him feel like a zombie or have those weird hallucinations.

"Oh, it's happening, Big Brother," Lilly responded as she approached him. She looked down into the crib and ran her hand along its railing. "She's pretty cute. It's a good thing she didn't inherit Mom's looks."

"No, you can't be here," he repeated.

"Oh, would you just chill already, Doofus? You're not having another seizure and you're not off your meds."

"W-what do you want?" he stammered.

"What I want is my murderer punished," she declared. "You saw the tapes too, so you're a witness just like Veronica and Logan are."

"What do think I can do about it? It's not like I can show my face in Neptune. The second I do..." He glanced worriedly at his infant daughter before turning back to his sister and continuing, "The second I do, they'll arrest me for kidnapping. I don't think they'd see a kidnapper as a very credible witness, not to mention, then I'd be risking leading the Mannings back to Lilly and I'll be damned if I let them treat my daughter they way they treated their own!"

"Oh, would you relax?" Lilly scoffed. "I'm not asking you to testify or anything. I've got something much more important in mind for you."

"But you just said you wanted your murderer punished. If you didn't mean that what did you mean?"

"Well, since you can't testify under the circumstances...what with you being a coward and all, kidnapping your kid instead of going about it the legal way; on the run instead of being in Neptune where you should be to help make sure justice is served, then I figure you owe me something else."

"What? Lilly, you know I'd do anything for you."

"Yes, I do. So, here's what I need. In the event that the trial doesn't go well since your dear best friend destroyed the one piece of compelling evidence..."

"Logan did what? Wh-why would he do that?"

Lilly laughed. "Oh, he's got this old-fashioned idea in his head that he's protecting my virtue or something."

Duncan couldn't help laughing. "You? Virtue?"

"I know, right?" She laughed with him. "It's really very sweet of Logan, honestly, but also completely moronic because those tapes of me getting busy with his daddy were the one piece of evidence that was sure to get him convicted. Now, it's all based on testimony of people who've seen the tapes and with you here and the trial there, that's one less witness."

"Okay, Okay, I get it, but you still haven't told me what it is you want me to do."

"Simple. If the judicial process doesn't take care of Aaron Echolls, I want you to do it."

His face paled. "You don't mean...?"

"As if you wouldn't have already done it, if you could get your hands on him. I know how much you've mourned me. I mean, the fact that you named your daughter after me says it all. So, if you really want to do something about it, make sure that he doesn't get away with it."

"You still don't get it, do you? I CAN'T go back to Neptune."

"Poor Duncan. You always were a little on the slow side, weren't you? I never said anything about you doing the deed yourself. You're the heir to the Kane Software fortune and you and I both know that Mom and Dad know exactly where you are and that they've got a crooked accountant shuffling papers all over the place to fund your escape and make it look like a charitable contribution. You know, they'd give you anything you wanted, especially if it involved avenging my killer."

"No, Mom and Dad don't need to be involved in this in any way, shape or form. I can't have them subject to questioning, but chances are good that the cops and the FBI will never find me if they already haven't by now. I know just who to call though."

"Now, that's using the old noodle," she teased. "I'm proud of you." She gave him a quick kiss and said, "I'll be seeing you."

As soon as she was gone, he hurried into the next room to use the phone...a disposable cell phone, of course, to make it harder for him to be tracked.

As soon as the bored receptionist answered, "Kane Software. How may I direct your call?"

"Clarence Weidman, please." If there was one person he knew who didn't mind getting his hands dirty, it was the head of security for his father's company. After all, wasn't it Clarence who'd set up all the evidence to fudge the details of Lilly's murder under his Jake Kane's orders when he'd thought Duncan had killed his sister while having one of his violent outbursts? "CW?...It's me...Now, listen to me very carefully."


End file.
